1-3 July 2019, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – UNITAR with the support of Diageo and in collaboration with IARD conducted a three-day in-depth practical training workshop for law enforcement officers from the Dominican Republic to implement a High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) campaign. 25 Police Officers from the National Safety Agency for Transit and Transport (Dirección General de Seguridad de Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre, DIGESETT) took part in the training.

During the workshop, police officers were able to learn and practice protocols to run and operate breathalyzer checkpoints to tackle drinking and driving, while designing their own protocols and procedures. Additionally, exercises on how to use breath alcohol testing devices to determine blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in drunken-driving suspects took place.

The Government of the Dominican Republic has launched their first-ever national HVE campaign titled “Tómatelo En Serio” that includes the following components:

• Public awareness campaign in universities and key locations to educate the community at large about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol
• Breathalyzer checkpoints in targeted locations in the country to sanction drivers who are found with a BAC level above legal limits.

Through its Road Safety Global Initiative, UNITAR with the support of Diageo has been providing ongoing training to the National Institute of Transit and Transport (Instituto Nacional de Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre – INTRANT) and DIGESETT to help them launch this important campaign aimed at saving lives.   The “Tómatelo En Serio” campaign specifically seeks to contribute to halve the number of road traffic injuries and fatalities related to drivers using alcohol. The Campaign will be implemented throughout 2019 and it is expected to become an ongoing program going forward.